“It is a modern mistake to think that great personalities can grow without being rooted in the rich soil of the past, in the memory of great deeds and in fidelity to promises made across the generations.” Stratford Caldecott, from his analysis of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.
About the Author:
M.C. Tuggle is a native North Carolinian whose ancestors arrived in the South in 1647. Raised on a tobacco farm near High Point, North Carolina, he enjoyed a childhood of outdoor living, including rambling through the countryside hunting, fishing, and searching for arrowheads. In college, he took a double major in history and English, and completed his M.A. in English at Wake Forest University on a Wake Forest fellowship.
His interests in language and computers led him into a career in property and casualty underwriting, project management, and operations research for several large insurance companies. In 1986, he completed the course of study for the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter designation, the insurance equivalent of a CPA. He taught CPCU for several years. The North Carolina Department of Insurance certified him as an instructor of statistics for professional CE. He also served on the Property Committee of the North Carolina Rate Bureau, where he worked with long-range computer models to determine future rate recommendations.
His first computer was a Commodore 64. (Yes, he’s that old.) A Certified Novell Administrator®, and proficient in the object-oriented programming language Visual Basic, Mike served on automated risk selection projects for two insurance companies. He was also a member of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.
M.C. Tuggle’s fantasy, science fiction, and literary short stories have been featured in several publications, including Mystery Weekly Magazine, Hexagon Speculative Fiction, and Metaphorosis. Novel Fox published his novella Aztec Midnight in December, 2014.
He considers Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O’Connor, Robert E. Howard, and Mickey Spillane as the authors who have most influenced his writing. In addition to fantasy, science fiction, and crime novels, his reading includes history, with emphasis on military history. He has given presentations on Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign to several historical societies.
Here are the non-fiction books that have primarily shaped his worldview:
The Resurgence of the Real, by Charlene Spretnak
Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius
Sociobiology, by E. O. Wilson
The March of Folly, by Barbara Tuchman
African Genesis, by Robert Ardrey
Visions of Order, by Richard Weaver
On Aggression, by Konrad Lorenz
An avid weightlifter, tennis player, collector of American Indian relics, and student of martial arts, he has been married to Julie Tuggle since 1982 and is the proud father of a daughter, Jessica.
Interviews:
- Cathleen Townsend’s Author Interviews is a respected online treasure. I’m honored to be included in the company of Dan Alatorre, D. Wallace Peach, and E. E. Rawls, just to name a few of the authors Cathleen has featured over the years.
- Here’s my lively Q & A with Matt Bond at The Book Blogger.
- Amandeep Mittal of Confessions of a Readaholic interviewed me for his blog. We talked about how growing up in a storied, rural landscape influenced my worldview and inspired my love of writing, and, of course, we discussed my upcoming book, The Genie Hunt.
- Fiona McVie of authorsinterviews interviewed me about my writing, major influences, and my works in progress.
- Q & A with Aztec Midnight author M. C. Tuggle
And there’s more about me!
The Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Contact:
I found Barbara Tuchman’s A Distant Mirror to be a very influential book for me. Life of a medieval castle brings period alive in ways both factual and poetic.
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annabelletroy,
That’s one I haven’t read yet. Tuchman was one of those rare historians who wrote like a novelist.
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Absolutely! I plan to read The Guns of August, maybe this August…
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annabelletroy,
Guns is both eye-opening and exciting. Enjoy!
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Love that quote by Caldecott!
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Same here!
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My first computer was a Commodore 64 and a printer where you tore off the strip with the holes.
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Bridgesburning Chris,
We were pioneers!
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Yeah and funny thing is back then it cost $1800 for computer and printer and today the cost can be a lot less.
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lol – my first was a Kaypro, Mike (and wrestled with Novelle as a sysadmin for a short bit) – so I’m just a few years behind you, tech-wise. NOT a numbers cruncher, however – so we are not alike in that regard.
I follow Sally, but somehow missed her blurb on The Genie Hunt or I might have found you sooner. I’ll most certainly be back.
xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMORE dot com)
ADD/EFD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder
“It takes a village to educate a world!”
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Madelyn,
Hey, great to hear from you! Looking forward!
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wow. what an accomplishment.
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Such a bright man, an allrounder:) your posts are amazing 🙂
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Mike: just a quick note to say thank you for finding my Blog – mainly because it led me back to yours. I’ve really enjoyed reading through your content and I’m really looking forward to more going forward. Many thanks and Best Regards. Brian
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Brian,
Well, thank you very much! Looking forward to reading more of your reviews.
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Need to ask that you return again, Mike. I received about another 25 comments during the night and I know you will want to read them.
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Hey Mike, I nominated you for the Mystery Blogger Award. Let me know if you end up writing your own post. Have fun with it! Check it out here: https://dutchlionsports.com/2018/05/15/mystery-blogger-award/
Thanks!
Reid
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Dutch Lion,
I appreciate that.
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Thank you for visiting my blog and appreciating, It sure means a lot. I just did a piece on Edvard Munch’s Scream. Being an artist myself I”ve been fascinated by this one. Curious what you’d say.
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Hello friend, I love what you’re doing, and I wanted to thank you for your support, so I’ve nominated you for the Blogger Recognition Award.
https://thinkingmoon.com/2018/10/22/message-3-blogger-recognition-award/
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I came upon your blog thanks to Bette Stevens, a poet and writer in Maine. I’m so glad she mentioned your name in the post on 7/29/2019. I look forward to reading more of what you’re writing. Thanks for choosing to follow my blog at Life in the Slow Lane.
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Sherrey,
Thank you so much!
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Hello Mr M.C. Tuggle. What would be your advice for a writer (as a beginner) like me?
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Maddy,
Read a lot, write a lot, and emulate your favorite writer until you discover your own voice. Along the way, you’ll need some guidance. Start with Stephen King’s On Writing, and check out the First Page Critique feature on this site: https://killzoneblog.com/?s=first+page&submit=Search
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Sure. Thank you. Definitely, I will follow your words.
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